In his own words: 8 key quotes from James Comey on Donald Trump and what's next

In an interview given on Friday morning, April 13, former FBI Director James Comey opens up about his role in the 2016 election, his dismissal from the FBI by President Trump, and whether or not he thinks Trump may be compromised by the Russians.

USA TODAY

Key quotes from former FBI director James Comey in his interview Friday with USA TODAY.

On comparing Trump to a Mafia boss:

"The comparison to the leadership of a Cosa Nostra family, a Mafia family, actually started to hit me right away. ... Not in the sense that I think Donald Trump is out breaking legs or shaking down shopkeepers or sticking up a union, but in the sense that the leadership culture is very similar. It's all focused on the boss. What is done in this family must serve the boss."

On the possible firing of special counsel Robert Mueller or Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein:

"If the president can fire an independent prosecutor who's working within the chain of command in the Justice Department because he doesn't like the result they may be headed toward, that is a fundamental attack on the rule of law."

On Trump and obstruction of justice:

"Sure, I saw evidence of obstruction of justice. Now, whether that adds up to the crime of obstruction, I don't know. But directing — asking, but I took it as a direction — the FBI director to drop a criminal investigation (of national security adviser Michael Flynn) is potentially obstruction of justice. Now, the reason I won't go to that ultimate conclusion is it depends on what the president's state of mind was, and that would depend on facts I can't see and didn't gather."

Listen to the extended interview with James Comey:

On his surprise at getting fired:

"I thought there's no way ... I'm not going to get fired, because I'm in charge of the Russia investigation. The president's not going to fire the FBI director who's handling the Russia investigation."

On Trump repeatedly denying allegations of a tryst with prostitutes in a Moscow hotel room:

"The continuing focus on it surprised me, because, again, I probably have too dark a view of the world, having been in the criminal investigation business most of my life. But when somebody constantly brings up to deny something that you are not asking about — that's an interesting fact. ... I think I put in the book the proverb 'Only the guilty flee where no man pursues.' "

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On whether his handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation tilted the 2016 election:

"All this was a 500-year flood. I pray that no FBI director ever has to deal with this again, because this was a series of no-win situations."

On what's next:

"I'm definitely not going to run for office. That's not my thing. I don't know what my engagement will be in the next presidential election. ... I'm not a Republican; I'm not a Democrat. I hope there is a bunch of people like me who want to ... make sure that the voters focus on this higher loyalty to our value, above parochial tribal fights about things. And if I can be useful in driving that conversation, that's what I'm going to do."